


Sanders Sides Tangled AU

by Hamiltalian



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010), Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Emotional Manipulation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Prince Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Prince Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Stockholm Syndrome, Thief Deceit | Janus Sanders, Thief Logic | Logan Sanders, Unsympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Unsympathetic Morality | Patton Sanders, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamiltalian/pseuds/Hamiltalian
Summary: After being trapped in a tower all of his life, Remus is desperate to get out and takes the first chance he can, even if it means travelling with a known criminal. Far away, his brother Roman is missing his brother more than he can bear, even if he'd never seen him before, and picks a similar character to help find him. Unbeknownst to them, two people have made it their life mission to find them, one for each brother. All the brothers know is they have a mission and they'll do just about anything to accomplish it.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 20
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, long before humans wasted it’s powers, there was such a thing as magic. It ran rampant throughout the world and it would’ve been a beautiful sight to see mix with human technology, if people weren’t as selfish as they were. The second that humans were introduced to this earth, it became clear that magic couldn’t stand a chance and it ran out soon after humans were able to figure out how to use it to their advantage. These days, magic is an extremely rare treasure that is only used for the most dire situations, if it is even found in the first place. 

One such bit of magic was a beautiful flower with golden petals and silver roots and leaves. It was hidden deep within the forest, in such a dangerous spot that few dared to try to look for it. In fact, few even knew about it. The myth of the flower was one that lived only in the kingdom of Solluna. It was such an old tale that the only thing people remembered about it was it’s miraculous healing properties, but in this situation, it was all they needed. 

See, the kingdom’s queen was sick, horribly sick, and it seemed like the end of their royal bloodline. She was royal by blood, her husband royal by marriage, and there was no heir. They needed the miracle cure that the flower could give them, so a team of soldiers was sent to retrieve it. Though the path was difficult, they were successful in their mission and the queen was healed. Things were looking great for the kingdom and the queen was even able to produce an heir only a year or so later. Or, technically speaking, she was able to produce two heirs, twin boys. But, obviously, only one could grow up to rule their kingdom and it didn’t take very long for the king and queen to make their preference clear. 

The king and the queen very clearly favored their son, Prince Roman, and left his brother Remus in the background, though they assured everyone that they loved their boys equally. Of course, nobody could blame them, Prince Remus’s ominous white hair may have been a good omen, but it was also a clear sign that he’d inherited more magic than his brother. While Prince Roman’s ruby red eyes may have been a bit frightening, eyes were just that. Remus, on the other hand, was obviously destined to be evil and most believed that the king and queen were simply doing their people a favor by keeping him hidden. 

Of course, not everybody believed that. One of the palace workers, Patton, wasn’t sure how everybody could see that and think it was fair. Surely, it couldn’t be that hard to keep a child from becoming some kind of ticking time bomb of evil. He knew that poor child needed to be loved and he was willing to do anything to make sure he had that. It was simple enough, he already worked in the palace. And he did have somewhere to hide. 

A few months after the prince was born, Patton decided that the night was perfect and took the child from his bed. It would've been almost too easy, had Remus not started crying near not too far from the gates. Despite hearing the guards calling him back, Patton ran as fast as his legs would take him, holding the prince close against his chest to muffle his cries until he was out of the town and in the thickly wooded forest. As many times as he’d been out there, it wasn’t hard to lose them and get to his second home, a hidden tower in the woods. 

As soon as he made it to the top of the tower, Patton sighed and took the prince to the nursery he’d been preparing, quieting him down. 

“I’m going to make sure you grow up to be somebody they can love,” he hummed. “And nothing is going to keep me from helping you.” 

It was almost a perfect plan. Patton would keep Remus hidden and help him grow up into a handsome, proper prince, though Remus was absolutely not allowed to know the truth about his life until that day came, but it didn’t take long before a few hiccups in the plan started to appear. 

The first one appeared about a year into his time with Remus. Patton decided that it was about time for Remus to have a haircut, so he sat Remus up on a table, giving him a few snacks to chew on, and grabbed a strand of hair from the back of his head, snipping some of it off. The second that the scissors cut through it, the hair turned brown, both on Remus’s head and in Patton’s hand, effectively scaring him enough to not want to try it again. Still, he didn’t know what it meant, not until Remus was about five years old. 

Remus was sitting on a stool, playing with a doll, while Patton sat behind him, brushing through his hair. After his first attempt at cutting it, Remus’s hair started growing at an extraordinary rate, It was already easily over 15 feet long, and Patton brushed through it frequently, not wanting to let the hair break off and die, trying to avoid anymore brown hair from appearing on Remus’s head. 

Remus had been a vocal child from the moment he learned how to speak, but, like most children, everything he said was just from copying Patton and whatever books Patton had read to him. Now, however, Remus started humming something that Patton had only heard coming from Remus before. He’d heard Remus humming the melody and babbling along to it, so he was obviously at least a bit curious about it. 

“What’s that song you’re humming, little prince?” 

Remus shrugged. “It’s just in my mind... I really like it.” 

“Oh, yeah?” Patton chuckled. “Well, does your little song have words?” 

“Of course it does,” he replied, much to Patton’s surprise. “I don’t really know what they all are, but I know the words. Do you want me to sing it for you?” 

“Um...” Now, Patton was getting worried. “Remus, I love your voice, but I don’t think-” 

Remus cut him off, singing the song on his own. “Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine.” 

As he began singing, Patton noticed Remus’s white hair starting to glow, something he’d never seen before. He was frozen in shock with the hair still in his hand, and watched as whatever forces were at work spread to his skin. Before he could drop the hair and jump back, Patton started to feel... Good. He felt almost rejuvenated in a way that was lost to time. 

“Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate’s design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine, what once was mine.” 

Remus’s hair went back to normal as he stopped singing, looking back at his father for approval. “Hey, your face is better!” 

“My face?..” Patton reached up and ran his hand over his face, gasping as he ran his hand over his cheek. There was a cut there, a good sized one, that he got from the last time he went outside for supplies. He jumped up and ran to the full length mirror in the main area of the tower, looking at himself. 

Patton wasn’t particularly old, he was only in his early forties, but he was showing a few signs of age. A few gray hairs, some faint smile lines, and a slight, but visible, loss of elasticity in his skin. Now, all of that was gone. He didn’t even look the way he did when he was 30, Patton could’ve easily passed as 25! Not only that, but Remus was right, the cut on his face was gone and, as Patton inspected his skin, he saw that almost all of the scrapes and bruises he’d sustained as someone who went into the forest as often as he did were gone, the exception being the scar from a large gash on the back of his arm he’d sustained years ago. 

“Is something wrong?” Remus asked as he went over, looking up at his father with big, worried eyes. 

“Um... I want to try something...” He sat down and took a strand of Remus’s hair, wrapping it around his arm over the scar. “Can you sing that song again?” 

Remus nodded and took a breath before doing just that, watching as his own hair began glowing, as he’d seen before. 

That time, the scar disappeared and it took almost everything for Patton not to faint then and there. 

“Remus... You have healing powers.” 

“What does that mean?..” 

“Well... It means that when you sing that song, someone can touch your hair and, if they’re hurt, it’ll erase that.” Of course. Everyone was right, Remus had to have inherited the magic from the plant the queen ingested all those years ago. But that didn't mean he was evil, it just meant... It was going to be a little harder to turn him into a prince. 

Remus grinned widely and jumped in place. “Really?! Does that mean I can go outside? I can help people!” 

“No!” Patton shouted, causing Remus’s expression to fall. “No... This is such a special power, people would do awful things to keep it for themselves...” 

Remus frowned and fidgeted with his hair before pulling at the one brown strand. “Is that why this looks different?.. It’s dark and it doesn’t glow when I sing...” 

Patton thought for a second before slowly nodding. “Yes... Yes, that’s exactly what happened. I took you on a walk with me one day and someone saw you. He threatened to hurt us both unless I let him have a tiny piece of your hair.” He leaned towards Remus and pulled him down to sit in his lap, hugging him close. “I couldn’t run and I couldn’t stand to see you hurt, so I let him before leaving as fast as I could. It was late, it was too dark for him to see it change, but I noticed it and I swore I’d never let you get hurt again.” 

“I’m sorry...” Remus wrapped his tiny arms as far as he could around Patton and squeezed him tightly. “I’ll never go outside, I promise...” 

“You’re such a good boy, Remus... I’d never do anything to hurt you.” 

“I know.” 

And, just like that, Patton extinguished Remus’s childhood hope of going outside with the trade off of keeping him inside and safe. Of course, he couldn’t stop Remus from being curious. 

Every year, to celebrate their miracle prince’s birthday and to mourn the loss of their other son, the king and queen and all of the citizens of their kingdom released a flood of floating lanterns, starting it right at midnight. It was perfect. They were quiet, peaceful, and they would be a good signal for their lost son. Patton had gotten used to it and learned to sleep through it, mistakenly assuming that Remus would do the same. Instead, Remus woke up every year and snuck down to the tower window, looking outside in awe as the distant night sky lit up with beautiful floating lights. But he knew his father would be upset if he knew that Remus was staying up so late, so it was a secret that he kept to himself and it was the one thing that kept him bright and happy. After all, one day, he’d grow up to be a big, strong man. His dad would have to let him out then. Right? 

Still, it wasn’t like he was in a rush to leave, Patton made it obvious through the years that he needed Remus there. Every time Patton came back from the outside world, he needed Remus to help pull him back inside. That started when Remus was about ten years old, when Patton came in through the tower’s door in a hurry, covered in wounds, and explained to Remus that he was recognized and chased by some of the bad men from outside and would be forced to seal the usual door after he was healed, so he’d need Remus to use his hair to let him climb back inside. 

Of course, none of it was true. Patton threw himself into some thorny bushes in order to make it seem that way, just to scare Remus enough to make him believe it. And it wasn’t like it would hurt him. After all, Remus used his hair to make a rope swing in his room, it very clearly didn’t hurt for him to put all that weight on his hair and it was almost forty feet long, more than enough to reach Patton at the bottom of the tower. Without Remus there, he wouldn’t be able to get inside. And he wouldn’t have anyone to heal him. So, Remus stayed and he didn’t question staying for years. 


	2. Chapter 2

About the time that Remus turned 20, he started getting antsy. He was a grown man, though the way Patton monitored his diet after Remus let it slip he was trying to get strong so he could take care of himself kept him from gaining the muscle mass that he wished he had, and things were starting to get boring. There were only so many books, only so many games he could play by himself, only so many things he could do to keep himself from realizing how much of his life he was losing. 

He wasn’t the only one whose patience was running thin. Back in the kingdom, crime may not have been running rampant, but where there were people, there were criminals and two of these criminals were currently breaking into the palace, both of them hiding in the shadow of the night. 

“I can’t believe they keep the crown jewels in such a public display,” one of them whispered. “It’s such a clearly flawed system and it doesn’t take a genius to see that they’re the real thing.” 

“The king and queen wanted a monument to their lost son and his brother wanted to show his support. Therefore, crown jewels in public sight.” 

The first one sighed, frustrated by the flawed system, even if it was currently working towards his own benefit. “Let’s just snatch them and go, I guess.” 

Seeing how late it was, there was no guard standing watch outside of the room, so the two thieves were able to step in and get their share of the treasure with ease. Well, at least half of it. While the lost prince’s crown was under a simple glass box, the box protecting the current prince’s crown was screwed into the wooden podium beneath it. 

“Ugh, let’s just take this one and go,” the first thief argued. “They’ll clearly never miss it.” 

“Screw that. You can go, Rogue, but I came for treasure and I’m getting treasure.” His partner pull out a knife from his pocket and carefully, but quickly, began messing with the screws. 

“This is so stupid! We’re going to get caught!” Rogue whispered harshly. 

“We’re not getting caught! This place is never guarded at night.” 

“Fang, come on!” 

“Shut it! If we get caught, it’ll be because you’re running your big mouth.” 

Sure, the room was never guarded, but that didn’t mean it didn’t get any visitors. 

As soon as they were able to get the case open, the two thieves were interrupted by a voice coming from the door. 

“What is going on here? Guards! Guards, come quick!” 

“Shit!” 

“I told you we should’ve left!” 

Fang shoved the crown into his own bag and lead the way out, shoving down whoever was at the door before darting out of the palace, a few guards following close behind them. 

The two managed to make it out of the kingdom and into the forest, though the guards didn’t slow down for a second. Before long, it became pretty evident that they weren’t stopping and... Well... Rogue knew this wasn’t his fault. So, he pushed his friend over and kept running, even as he heard Fang cursing him out and all of the guards stopping to apprehend him. He ran until he couldn’t run anymore and climbed a tree, resting for the night and trying to push down the inevitable guilt he was feeling. 

In the morning, Remus woke with a certain brightness about him. He’d been keeping track of the days that the lights would appear in the sky and he knew that they were happening soon, probably only in a couple of days! And he knew that it wasn’t going to be asking for too much. After all, in all of the books he’d ever read, the characters were grown up by the age of sixteen or eighteen and Remus waited until he was twenty, just in case. Not only that, but he didn’t even ask for anything for his birthday that past year, so it wasn’t like his dad could make the excuse of his present already being more than enough again. And he may not have been the strongest, but he’d been practicing ways to escape people with his hair and he’d been trying to learn to fight with his favorite iron pan. It wasn’t a conventional weapon, but it was heavy and metal, just like whatever random weapons book characters may have picked up. He was certain he could take care of himself! 

Remus hopped out of bed and went out to the living area, cleaning everything up as he did every day before making his dad’s favorite breakfast: pancakes with bits of chocolate sprinkled in and syrup. He needed him to be nice and happy before Remus could think to ask what he was about to ask. 

By the time Patton was ready, the smell of chocolate pancakes was spreading throughout the tower and he couldn’t help but float out to find it’s source. 

“Good morning, Remus,” he hummed. “I see you made my favorite. Any particular reason?” 

Remus shrugged. “Not really. I guess I just felt like it.” He sat down and ate breakfast with him, keeping his excitement to himself.

Patton believed that easily enough, he wasn’t raising a prince who would lie about anything. He just enjoyed the breakfast that his son had prepared for him, humming contently at the taste. “Do you think you could sing for me after this? I didn’t want to wake you up last night, but I took a bit of a tumble and I have a few scrapes that I wouldn’t want getting any worse.” 

“Of course! I could do it now, while you’re eating, if you want.” As excited as he was, Remus was already done with his own food. 

“Oh, uh... It may be a little difficult trying to eat and brush your hair, but sure!” At that point, brushing Remus’s white hair was just part of the tradition of him letting Patton heal himself. Remus made sure it was well maintained on his own most of the time, seeing as he did have way more than enough free time. 

Remus darted over and grabbed his hair brush before bringing it back and giving it to his dad before sitting in his seat, letting him take his white hair and singing for him, hardly realizing just how fast he was going through the song. 

Of course, the effects of the song were just as potent, even if getting healed at that kind of speed was a bit strange, but that’s not what Patton was focused on. It wasn’t like Remus to be so excited and keep anything to himself. “What is on your mind?” he asked with an awkward laugh. “You know better than to hide anything from me, you should just tell me if you’re that excited about something.” 

Remus giggled and turned back to face him. “Alright, I just wanted to make sure you were in a good mood first... I just really wanted to ask you and see how you thought about me going outside with you today!” 

Sure, before, Remus’s contagious smile had made itself onto Patton’s face, but as soon as he heard the request, it was gone. “What?” he asked, harsher than he’d meant to. 

Remus did his best to not let that ruin his good mood. “Father, I’m all grown up. I’m an adult, I’m older than all of the heroes in my books. And I’m sure I’d be able to take care of myself. I know I’d be able to take care of myself, with you around! And there’s something I’d been wanting to see...” 

“You can’t go outside,” Patton responded, ignoring his request to see anything. “Remus, we’ve talked about this.” He got up and walked over to a drawer, pulling out a pair of scissors.

“No, please!” Remus quickly argued, taking a few steps back. “Please, I haven’t asked in years!” His father knew why Remus thought he was so invincible. He thought his hair made him powerful. Clearly, the only solution was to take away Remus’s hair, remind him how mortal he really was. It was a punishment he’d started when Remus was about eight years old, when his asking became too frequent. A little over half of his white hair was gone, much shorter brown hair covering the left side of his head. “At least listen first!” 

“No. You know my rule, I cut and then, if you feel so inclined to, you can keep talking.” That was what made it an effective punishment. Remus never felt strongly enough to ask again. 

Remus whimpered and combed his fingers through his hair before going to his father, closing his eyes and letting him do as he saw fit. 

Patton took a large chunk of Remus’s hair from the back of his head, enough to make up for the years of hope that Remus had been building up, and cut it off at the same level as the rest of his hair, ignoring his quiet sob. Once it was off, he held it in front of Remus’s face. “Son, look at this...” 

Remus didn’t want to, but he opened his eyes and looked at the unrecognizable hair. He didn’t hate his brown hair, but the long, white hair he’d been growing was precious to him. Not only did it have powers, but it gave him something to do when he was alone. And it gave him hope. 

“This is how easy it is to lose your power. Twenty years of safety, gone in a second.” He dropped the hair to the ground and put down the scissors before smiling at Remus. “Now, you can speak.” 

It was just hair... It was just hair... The second that it was cut, it wasn’t his and Remus used that thought to power him through this, forcing a smile back onto his face. “I know that back then, it may have been dangerous to take me out as a child, but I’m an adult now. It should be fine, right?” 

Patton shook his head. “No. It’s not alright. You’re not ready to go outside and-” He scoffed. “You said you wanted to see something? What could have possibly caught your attention out there? You’ve been in here your entire life, you can’t possibly know anything about anything out there!” 

Remus’s forced smile fell as his father’s voice continued to get more and more stern. “Um... Well, there’s these lights in the sky. I see them once a year, every year, and I know when they’re coming this year. I want to go see them and they come from the same direction as the cave that you always leave through... I thought you could take me and...” He started faltering further as his father glared at him. “And maybe we could see them together.” 

Patton shut his eyes and took a deep breath before smiling over at his son. “Remus... I understand.” 

“You do?” Remus squeezed his hands into fists, starting to well up with hope again. 

“I do. You’ve never been outside and there’s only so many things you can experience in books, so you just don’t know better. Those lights that you see are just the stars. It just gets really clear and it’s easier to see them sometimes.” 

“Oh,” Remus relaxed and laughed, going over towards his bookshelf and doing his best to ignore the dead hair on the ground as he walked. “No, that can’t be it. I thought so too, when I was smaller, but I took this book and I tracked the stars and they’re always so constant.” 

Patton rolled his eyes and put his foot down on the white hair that was still attached to his son’s head.

“But those lights, they only float by once a year, they can’t be- Ow!” He cried out, more from surprise than any kind of pain, as his father pulled his hair back. 

Patton gasped and moved his food, clasping his hands over his chest. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry... You still have so much hair that it’s hard to keep from accidentally stepping on it sometimes..” 

Remus laughed awkwardly and kept walking towards his books, feeling a little more unsure as he grabbed the one he’d charted the stars in. 

“But, maybe that’s just part of the point,” Patton continued. “Even after I cut it off, you still have so much hair, who’s to say you won’t just get yourself into trouble with it?” He picked up some of Remus’s hair, running his fingers through its white strands as he walked over to him. “I know I’ve told you a hundred times before that people would do some seriously awful things for your hair and all of its powers, especially seeing how rare it is now. I’m just wondering what makes you think you’d be able to keep it hidden and yourself safe, even with my help.” 

“But, I-”

“Of course, it doesn’t even stop there. Don’t forget the kinds of things you think are going to be okay to say down there.” Remus had a certain fascination with death. It kind of worked as a point that Patton could dangle over his head to keep him inside, but it certainly wasn’t something a prince could do. “Sure, you may scare away whatever people try to hurt us, but you’ll no doubt scare away those who try to help us, too. Ultimately, I’m doing this for your own good.” He stopped beside his son and took the book from his hands, putting it back on the shelf. “You hardly know how to behave around other people, what makes you think you know the stars as well as you say?” 

“I...” Remus wanted to argue, but his father was right. He was always right. “I guess I wouldn’t.. But that’s why I want you to stay with me, so you can teach me and so we can learn together...” He may have still been arguing, but all of the fire in his voice was long gone. “I just thought...” 

Patton sighed and pulled Remus into a hug. “Oh, Remus... Sometimes, I think about how fast you were able to learn new concepts as a kid and I think you’re a genius.” He pulled back, tightly gripping Remus’s shoulders. “Then you turn around and say things like that. I mean, look at you... You’ve spent your entire life safe in this tower, you’re so fragile, I’m afraid a single leaf falling on your shoulder would reduce you to tears. And you’re still so young, I could see why you think you’re so invincible. But you know, I know you know, that I keep you up here to protect you.” 

“I know, but I’ve been up here for so long.. It’s literally been my forever, please-” 

“I knew I couldn’t keep you quiet about this forever, but this is over the top.” He let go of Remus and turned away as he continued, not wanting Remus to see him lie. “I was thinking about taking you out soon, as a surprise, but seeing how stubborn you’ve grown, I’m not so sure anymore.” 

Remus shook his head, feeling his heart shatter in his chest. “No.. No, I’ll be good, I’ll keep the tower extra clean, I’ll do whatever, just-” 

Patton whipped around and gripped Remus’s wrist, silencing him. “You know I know what’s best for you. It’s way too much for you to handle, especially if you’re going to be this emotional and irrational about everything.” A proper prince should be able to keep a level head in any scenario, especially one as childish as not getting what he wants. “All of those bad people will be able to twist your sweet heart with a couple of words and then where will you be? Tied up in a dark room somewhere, surrounded by people who’ll use you only for your powers.” 

Remus bit his tongue. There was a point where he’d gotten so angry that he’d shot back that it sometimes felt like his father was one of those people, but never again. It was the first time he’d gotten his hair cut and his father chopped a large portion of it that one time alone. Not to mention, his father was so hurt by Remus’s words and horrified at his own actions that he’d left for an entire month. Remus had worried himself sick during that time and he never wanted to be alone for that long again. 

Patton let go of Remus and took a few steps back. “I get it, you want to try something new, but this isn’t what you’re looking for. I mean, think about how unprepared you’d be. You can’t talk to people, you talk about such awful things for fun, you’re such a hot head that I don’t doubt you’ll blow up at the first person who even insinuates that you’re not a capable adult. The real world is cruel, they’d chew you up and spit you out without me there to watch your every move. I may be kind of cruel here myself, but it’s because I have one goal and it is to protect you.. And there’s only one way I can do that...” 

Remus just nodded. He was far from convinced, but now he knew his father would bring up such mean things in order to keep him there. “I’m sorry... I promise not to ask again...” 

“Good.” Patton went back up to him and kissed his forehead. “You know I hate being so mean, but sometimes, it feels like you’re not leaving me with a choice... You know I love you, right?”

“Of course I know,” Remus assured, moving to hug his father. 

Patton grabbed his arms, stopping him. “I have to leave... There are a few errands that I have to run today, you understand, right?” 

“Right... Of course I understand.” Remus forced a smile and went over to the tower window with his father, letting him out. Some day... Some day, he’d join him. That day was just not today. 


	3. Chapter 3

Soon after the sun rose that morning, a certain thief woke up in his tree and jumped down after checking to make sure his treasure was undamaged. Once he was ready, he headed out and tried to find somewhere he could lay low for a while, at least until they forgot about him. They already forgot about the lost prince, how long could it possibly take for them to forget his crown? Rogue just needed a place to stay for a few days, then he could go sell the crown and let that be the end of that. He spent a few hours wandering through the forest before coming across a wall, cursing under his breath. Surely, there was some way around it, right? 

Rogue looked in both directions, spotting a dark area not too far down. Some kind of cave, maybe? There wasn’t anything too big out there, it should be safe to check it out, so he did. He went and saw that it wasn’t just any cave, it was a tunnel. It was a tunnel that apparently lead to some weird secluded area with nothing but an old tower in the middle. Well, it wasn’t ideal, but it would keep him safe from the elements. After spending a few minutes trying to find some sort of door, he gave up and climbed the wall, with help from his knives. It wasn’t a terribly high climb, only about thirty feet, but that didn’t mean it didn’t suck. 

Once he reached the top, he slumped inside and sighed, looking in his bag one last time. This was going to be his last heist for a while. He enjoyed the thrill, but not if he was going to be working with absolute idiots like- 

His thoughts were cut off as he was knocked unconscious. 

Remus gasped as the person in front of him fell, kicking him in the side to make sure he was really out. When the stranger didn’t move, he began grinning and squealing, jumping in place. He just beat up a bad guy! Well... He had to be a bad guy, right? Why else would he go up to the tower with a knife? Why else would he have found the tower? Remus began thinking a bit harder. Maybe this was some kind of test from his father to see if he was ready or not... Well, if it was, he definitely passed! Now, he just had to find a place to put the guy before he could wake up and snoop around. 

Remus hummed in thought and looked around before settling his gaze on his old toy chest. He was way too old for toys, so his father emptied it out years ago. Now, it was just there for the sake of memories and it was empty. Not only was it empty, but it was just big enough to hide a body. 

Remus looked back down at the body by his feet and knelt down, trying to lift him up. Luckily, whoever he was, he was just small enough for Remus to pick up and it wasn’t much work for him to go dump him in the chest, shutting and locking it after. As soon as he was done, Remus began celebrating his win again, though he was cut off pretty quickly by the sound of his father’s voice. 

“Remus! I’m home!” 

He squealed and went over to the window, the action of putting his hair in the pulley system he’d made being nothing more than habit at that point. 

“And I have a surprise!” his father announced as he climbed into a loop of Remus’s hair, letting his son pull up his weight. He may have cut Remus’s hair, but whatever he hadn’t touched was nearly impossible to break without a blade. It could hold his weight easily. 

“I have a surprise too!” 

“Ooh, I bet my surprise is better!” 

Remus almost laughed at that. The only thing that could be better than what he’d thought of was the idea of his father letting him out and after their fight, that just wasn’t happening. At least, not without the kind of news he had. 

Once Patton was high enough, he pulled himself the rest of the way through the window, setting down his bag. “I found a patch of strawberries in the woods. I know how much you love them, so I got enough to put into a cake and jams!” 

“Oh, wow, that sounds really nice!” Remus was practically bursting with joy, something that his father incorrectly attributed to the fruit he’d brought back. 

“Now, you know I hate leaving after a fight like that, especially since there was really nothing to fight about.” 

“Actually, about that,” Remus said, walking towards the chest. 

Patton sighed. “I thought we were done talking about the stars.” 

“I don’t know that they’re stars, but-” 

“Because we’ve just finished discussing that.”

Remus shrugged. “All I’m saying is you don’t think I’d survive out there-” 

“I know you wouldn’t survive out there,” Patton hummed, moving to wash the fruits. 

“But if you just trust me, I-”

“Remus, enough,” he warned, putting down the basket. 

“Please, just listen-” 

“Shut up!” Patton shouted. “You are not ready to leave and, at this rate, you will never be ready to leave! Ever!” 

If the lesson didn’t hit Remus before, it sure as hell did now. His father really was never going to let him leave. Remus had to find his own way. He sighed and sat on top of the chest, like he frequently did anyways. 

“Oh, honey...” Patton cooed, his demeanor immediately changing. “You just push my limits so hard sometimes...” He went over and pulled Remus into an unreciprocated hug, squeezing harder until he felt Remus’s arms around him. “Just for that, I won’t even touch your hair this time.” It was a separate conversation. He was ready to cut off more of Remus’s hair as soon as he was finished cleaning the strawberries. 

“No, I’m sorry... I just wanted to say that I know what I want for my delayed birthday present,” he hummed, forcing a less than crushed tone. 

“Anything for you, Princey...”

“Maybe new art supplies? Paints or pastels or even pencils?...” 

Patton smiled softly. “Well, I do know something, but... I don’t know... It’s a long trip and I wouldn’t want to leave you all alone...” 

Remus shrugged. “I’ll be okay with whatever... Even just something new that I ran out of. I just go through art supplies so fast...” 

“Nonsense,” Patton laughed. “As long as you promise me that you’ll be okay here alone, I’ll make that trip, just for you.” 

Remus nodded and hugged his father closer, thankful for how kind he could be when Remus actually listened. “I promise I’ll be fine. But I will miss you...” 

“I’ll miss you more...” Patton kissed the top of his head before letting him go. “Why don’t you get a basket ready for me so I can go? I should leave as soon as possible to make sure I’m home soon.” 

“Okay..” Remus went and did just that before seeing his father out, watching him leave like he did almost every day. 

As soon as he was out of sight, Remus turned back to his toy chest, wondering how to do this. He’d read about interrogations before, but this would be the first time he’d be conducting one. And on his own, too. He looked around and hummed as he spotted one of their chairs. Perfect. 

Remus scooped the stranger out of the chest and dropped in in the chair before tying him up with his hair and waiting in the shadows for him to wake up. 

It was another half hour or so before Rogue woke up, groaning from the pounding headache he now had. He looked down at his bound arms and legs and made an observation before he could begin struggling. “Is this... hair?” 

“Don’t bother struggling. You’ll never get out of there.” 

“Huh?..” Rogue followed the trail of hair that tied him up and followed it into a shadowy are, squinting as he tried to see. “Did you have to take my glasses? I know I had them when I came up here.” 

“Oh! Sorry..” Remus stepped out of the shadows, the stranger’s fallen glasses in one hand and the handle of his frying pan in the other. He carefully put the glasses on his face before stepping back, keeping a tight grip on his weapon. “Now, who are you? And how did you find this place?” 

Rogue didn’t respond, taking a moment to stare at the person in front of him. It was, in fact, silvery white hair that was tying him up and it all came from this stranger, where he wasn’t sporting shorter brown hair. The white had to be at least 50 feet long. No... Probably a lot longer than that. And his eyes were a piercing green color, practically bright enough to look deep into Logan’s soul. His facial hair was a bit.... Questionable, but maybe Rogue only thought so because he couldn’t grow any of his own. 

“Who are you?” Remus asked again, raising his frying pan threateningly. 

Rogue shook himself out of his trance. “Woah! No need to resort to violence. Look, I’ll tell you whatever. My name...” He paused and sighed. “My name is Rogue Action. Maybe you've heard of me?” 

Remus lowered his pan and cocked his head in confusion. “Rogue Action?..” 

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Rogue Action. First name was my choice. Last name, not so much. Look, please just call me ‘Rogue’ or, if you have to use my last name, ‘Mr Action.’ It’s a stupid play on words.” 

“Okay... Rogue. How did you find me and who else knows I’m here?” 

Rogue just shrugged. “Look, I was running, I needed a place to hide and I found this weird tunnel that lead in here. I don’t know who you are and I wasn’t seeking you out like some freak. That’s not my brand of crime.” 

“Ah ha! So, you are a criminal!” 

Rogue rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m a criminal, didn’t you see my-” He trailed off and looked around, realizing he was missing something. “Where is my bag?” 

“Hidden,” Remus said simply, crossing his arms proudly over his chest. “And you’ll never find it without my help.” 

Rogue took a deep breath, knowing that losing his temper here could only hurt his goals. “What’ll it take for me to get it back? I told you, I’m not here for you, I can take my stuff and just leave or whatever. I’ll go and never come back, just give me my bag back. I worked too hard for what I’ve got in there to lose it to some guy in a tower.” 

Remus pretended to think. “Gee... Well, there is one thing. You said you’re willing to do anything to get your stuff and go?” 

Rogue furrowed his eyebrows, a bit wary of the tone in this guy’s voice. “Depends on what it is...” He wasn’t a particularly dirty minded guy, but between his tone and all of the time he’d spent with Fang, he couldn’t help that his mind went straight to the gutters. 

“I want you to take me outside.” 

Take him outside? Rogue blinked a few times. “Is that it?” 

“Yep! Well, not really.” Remus went over to one of the walls that was concealed by a curtain and pulled it back, revealing a painting of himself, sitting in a tree with a full head of white hair, though that was an impossible dream, and watching the lights in the sky before going and turning the thief’s chair to face it. “You see these weird lights? And do not tell me that they’re just stars.” 

Rogue shrugged. “Yeah, I know those things. They’re done for the prince’s birthday every year.” 

Remus grinned and squealed as he realized he was right. They really weren’t stars. “Yes, those! I want you to take me to go see those!” 

“I don’t know..” Rogue hummed. “Look, I would do it, but I’m really not in any kind of position to just waltz into the kingdom and-” 

“Kingdom?” Remus asked, going around to look the thief in the eyes. “You mean... Like an actual kingdom? With... With lots of people?” 

Rogue stared up at him. “Yeah?.. There’s a lot of people out there, I guess.” 

Remus gasped and nodded quickly. “Yeah, I absolutely need you to take me out there! That’s the only way I’ll give you your bag back.” 

“Hey, genius, I’m not welcome there,” Rogue snapped back. “I just stole from the palace, I’m not going to-” 

“So, you’re good at what you do! You’re sneaky, you know how not to get spotted, of course you can escort me out there!” 

Rogue grumbled, though he really couldn’t argue against that knowledge. He was good at what he did and he knew it. He pulled his arms out of the hair that tied them down, crossing them over his chest. “You’re right, I am sneaky and I am good at what I do..” 

Remus squeaked and raised his weapon, about to bring it down on Rogue’s head when he continued speaking. 

“But!” he quickly interrupted. “But, I’m also smarter than I look. If you say I need you to find my stuff, I believe you. I’ll take you to see the stupid lights.” 

Remus immediately dropped his weapon, grinning widely and celebrating to himself as Rogue untied himself. 

“What’s your name, anyways?” 

“Oh! It’s Remus,” he hummed. “Nice to meet you, Rogue.” 


	4. Chapter 4

While Rogue had his fun, climbing into mysterious towers and taking on missions with a handsome young man, Fang was stuck in a prison cell with nothing to do but play with the brim of his bowler hat. At least, that’s how it was for the first few hours. Not long after the sun rose, Fang had a visitor of his own. A cloaked figure stepped up to his cell door and cleared their throat, getting his attention. 

Fang grinned and stood up, holding his hat over his chest. He knew exactly who this was. “Well, of all people, I knew you would eventually come to visit me.” 

“You know who I am?” the figure asked, reaching a hand up to pull his cloak down further over his own eyes. 

“Of course I know who you are.” He bowed deeply. “His royal highness, Prince Roman of our great Solluna.” 

The prince frowned and pulled down the hood of his cloak. “How did you...” 

“I remembered seeing you last night,” he explained as he stood straight up and put his hat on his head. “I didn’t see much of your face, but I did remember seeing your infamous golden hair.” 

Roman ran a hand over his own hair before sighing. “Right...” 

“If I’d known it was you at the time, I never would’ve pushed you down like that. Such a delicate young prince, I would’ve moved you aside the way you should a lady,” he teased. 

“Well, I’m not a lady.” 

“I know. Now, what do you want with me? You want to know where your brother’s crown is? Because, if so, you’re out of luck.” His smile became almost cruel as he thought about the way his partner betrayed him. “The person you’re looking for is a Mr Rogue Action and he escaped.” 

“No... I know I wouldn’t be able to just ask you where it is... No, I want something else from you.” 

“Ooh, that sounds interesting.” Fang’s grin grew wide again as he eyes the prince up and down. “What do you need me to do for you?” 

Roman pulled the cloak closed over his clothing, hiding his body. “Well, first, I need to know your name so I can properly address you. You’re a person just as much as I am, it isn’t very nice of me to just think of you as some thief.” 

“Surely, you’ve heard of me before. I go by Fang. Fang Horrific, emphasis on ‘whore,’ for you,” he said with a wink. 

Oh, god, of course Roman had heard of him. “Notorious thief and notorious harlot...” 

“Eh..” Fang shrugged. “I don’t really like the sound of ‘harlot.’ I rather enjoyed being called a filthy slut, though I supposed a dainty little prince such as yourself might not be a fan of such harsh language.” 

“I’m not dainty! But...” Roman rolled his eyes. “You’re right. I don’t like that.” 

“Alright. I’ll hold back on calling myself that, for your comfort. Now, what did you need from me?” 

Roman took a deep breath. Part of him wondered if this was right, but it felt like fate! Just the night before, he was thinking about how empty his life felt and how much he wished they could find his brother and the second he goes to visit his crown, the only thing he has left of him, he runs into these two thieves. Here one of them was, a particularly slippery criminal, actually in jail! “I want you to help me look for my brother.” 

Fang’s charismatic smile fell. Nobody had seen the second prince in twenty years, surely Roman was joking. “What are you talking about? You know that after all this time, he has to be-” 

“Don't. Don’t say it...” Roman sighed. “I don’t need you to find him, I just... It’s been so long, I have to at least try to look for him, but my parents refuse to let me... Please, in exchange for your freedom and whatever you want, help me at least try to search for him...” 

As sad as the request was, Fang really did like the sound of that. “Freedom and I want all of my crimes to be forgiven.” 

“Done.” 

No hesitation... Fang did wonder how far he could push this. “And enough treasure for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.” 

“Well...” Roman knew that one might be a bit more difficult to get. “I’ll do what I can. It shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“What if I asked to use your body?” He didn't mean it, but he had to at least ask. 

“Um...” Roman was definitely way more hesitant about that than his first two requests. “If.. If we do find my brother, I suppose something could be arranged...” 

Fang shook his head. “It was a joke. You clearly wouldn’t want to. I’m a thief, not a monster. I just want the money and my freedom.” 

Roman nodded, visibly relaxing. “I can do that for you.” 

“Good boy. Now, if you’re going to stay with me, you need to follow a few rules. You don’t get to question my thievery.” 

“As long as it’s not excessive. I’m paying you an insane amount of money for this.” 

Fang shrugged. “I can live with that. Just don’t get in my way. If we get in trouble, I’ll take care of it, you keep yourself safe.” 

“But-” 

“I can take care of myself. I can take care of you. But I can’t do that if I’m worried about stopping you from killing yourself. Got it?” 

Roman pouted, but nodded. He could make himself useful when the time came. 

“Good. Now, get me out of here.” 

Roman showed him the keys he’d already stolen and unlocked the cell, sneaking Fang out of the dungeon and letting him lead them out of the palace. 

“You’ve been out here, right?” Fang asked as they walked out of the palace and into the town. 

“A few times...” Never by himself. Roman glanced around, fidgeting with his cloak. 

Fang swatted at his hands. “Don’t make yourself look suspicious. And keep your hood up. People know your hair.” 

“Okay..” Roman tried to keep himself calm and followed Fang through alleys and empty streets, biting his tongue as he snatched clothes from lines and threw it at the prince’s chest. 

“When I say so, I want you to change. You’re dressed like a prince, your clothes are too constricting. Don’t worry, I won’t peek unless you want me to.” 

“I don’t want you to..” Roman muttered. 

“Then I won’t peek.” He looked around and found a dark, cornered spot between a couple of buildings. “Here. Take your time, I’ll keep watch.” He turned around, giving the prince a tiny bit of room to change. 

Roman sighed and silently did just that, making quick work of getting out of his princely clothes and into the more comfortable clothes. 

Once he was changed, the two of them went out to the forest and began walking. 

“You know I have no idea where to take us, right?” Fang asked. “Nobody knows where the prince disappeared to.” 

“I know.. We’ll just walk. It’s fine.” 

Fang rolled his eyes. He hoped this wasn’t going to be as miserable as it seemed. 

Speak of the devil, it was only about five minutes before they were spotted by bandits. They may not have known who the prince was, with the cloak covering his hair, but they were people all the same. 

“Stop right there!” 

Fang looked back and saw the group before grabbing the prince’s hand. “Run!” Had he been with another thief, he would’ve just stayed and fought, but that was definitely not the case here. 

Roman gripped his hand tightly and began running, Fang quickly taking the lead and pulling him through the trees until they got too thick to run through, cornering the two of them. Fang groaned and dropped down, wrapping his arms around the prince’s legs and taking a deep breath before standing up, shoving him up into the trees. 

Roman caught the message fast enough and pulled himself up onto a branch, watching as Fang fought off the three bandits. The first one went down simple enough, but the second didn’t run away until after he managed to slash Fang’s arm, causing him to cry out. 

By that point, Roman couldn’t just watch! He pulled a strand of hair out of his braid and hopped out of the tree, getting the bandit’s attention. 

“Look what we’ve got here,” he laughed, moving away from the thief on the ground. 

“I told you to stay away, now run!” Fang hissed, though he wasn’t much help with the bleeding from his arm distracting him. 

Roman didn’t respond, instead whipping his hair over so it wrapped around the bandit’s arm. 

He laughed at that and began unwrapping it as Roman began singing, his voice calm and cold. 

“Crescent high above. Evolving as you go.” As he began, his hair began glowing a brighter shade of gold and his eyes a darker shade of red. 

The bandit began panicking and trying to rip the hair off of his arm, though it seemed like it was melting into his skin. 

“Raise what lies beneath. And let the darkness grow.” As the hair over his arm began glowing, the bandit began screaming at the top of his lungs as he felt the hair burn his skin away. 

Roman kept singing even as he screamed. “Bend it to my will. Consume the sunlight’s glow.” 

Slowly, the bandit’s screaming slowed, though it was clearly a sign of the effects worsening rather than them letting up. Fang watched with horror as his veins turned black and his eyes rolled back into his head. 

“Rise into the sky. And let the darkness grow. Let darkness grow.” 

As Roman held the last note of the song, the bandit fell to the ground, dead. Roman sighed and unwrapped his hair before looking back at Fang, terrified of how he would react. 

Fang didn’t know how to react. The kingdom’s perfect, prissy prince just killed somebody, and with his magic hair at that! 

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “I hate using that power, but you were hurt, you needed help...” 

“Uh..” Fang tried his best not to seem as horrified as he was, realizing that the prince probably wouldn’t hurt him, not without good reason. “I just... Fuck...” He didn’t even know what to say. “What’s up with that?!” 

Roman frowned and went over, sitting beside Fang. “I’ve always had that power... My parents wanted to cut my hair and see what that would do, but I... Well...” This was a story he was pretty ashamed of. “I was a kid. I found it when I accidentally killed someone who made me upset and I threatened to kill anybody who came near my hair. I know it’s such a monstrous thing to do, but... I don’t know.. I was a little kid. I wouldn’t do it now, but I’d still never cut my hair.” Evil or not, he loved it too much. 

“Okay..”

“I’m not going to hurt you, even if we don’t get my brother back.” 

“I believe you.” 

Roman smiled softly and cut a strip of fabric off of his cloak, slowly approaching Fang. “I just want to use it as a bandage,” he explained, though Fang was not backing away. 

“I trust you,” he repeated. “You wouldn’t have asked me and given into my demands if you were planning on killing me. I trust you.” 

Roman bit back a smile and wrapped the fabric tightly around Fang’s arm. “How’s that?” 

He shrugged and smiled. “Better than I’d expect from you.” 

Roman laughed at that and helped him to his feet. “Should we keep searching?..” 

“Lets go.” He kept walking into the forest, the young prince following him. 


	5. Chapter 5

Back at the tower, Remus was looping his hair into the pulley system, taking a few deep breaths to mentally prepare himself for the real world below. 

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Rogue asked, more annoyed than anything, if he was being honest. 

“I’ll be fine, I just...” Remus looked out the window and down at the ground. “What does it feel like? I mean, the ground?.. No! Nevermind, don’t answer that, I want to be surprised. Just promise me it won’t hurt and I’m all good to go.” He nodded, partially trying to convince himself. 

“The grass won’t hurt you. As long as you don’t land too quickly, you’ll be fine.” 

“Okay...” Remus took a deep breath before standing in the window sill. 

“Wait,” Rogue interrupted. “What are you doing?” 

Remus shrugged. “My hair can handle the weight and it’s not like it hurts to pull it. I’ll be fine and I can help you down.” 

Rogue wasn’t sure how well he believed that, but Remus was the one with the hair. “You promise we won’t just fall? Because that will definitely hurt.” 

“I promise, it’ll be fine!” Remus smiled and held his arm out. “Just hold onto me, we’ll be okay. I let my dad climb my hair, like, everyday. What’s two people?” 

Rogue still wasn’t sure, but what could he do? It was better than climbing down with his knives. “Sure.” He joined Remus in the windowsill and let him hold onto him, returning the gesture as soon as they were out of the window. Remus wasn’t going down particularly fast and, sure, they wouldn’t die if they fell from that height, especially not on the grass, but he was thirty feet in the air with a rope of hair suspending him. He had a right to be at least a little freaked out. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Remus reassured, letting them down at about the same rate his father would slide down his hair. “I’ve had nothing to do but watch my dad when he goes down to the ground, I know how fast to go.” More or less. He had a good estimate. 

“Yeah, just don’t drop me or whatever,” he grumbled, trying not to outwardly seem as scared as he was. 

Remus nodded and kept sliding down until they were a few feet off the ground, low enough for Rogue to just jump off, but also, apparently, high enough for him to be having second thoughts. 

Rogue let go and looked back up at Remus, sighing. “Come on... You’ve already made it this far, you might as well at least land. If you don’t like it, you can always climb back up, as long as you give me back my bag.” 

“No! I said I was going to do it and I’m going to do it,” Remus argued, landing on the ground to go up to Rogue. “You’re not getting out of this that easily, I-” He cut himself off as he realized he was walking and looked down at his feet, squealing with joy. “Oh my god, it’s so soft!” He dropped down and laid in the ground, running his hands through the grass and clawing through the dirt. It felt so nice on his hands, so cool against his skin, and this was just grass and dirt! There was still so much more to feel, so much more to see! 

Rogue stepped back and let him have his moment, leaning against the tower in the mean time. Part of him wondered how Remus expected to get back up once his hair rope came off of the pulley, but that wasn’t a problem for now. Besides, he could just cry and go back and insist that Rogue was the reason he didn’t get his journey done and he just wanted his stuff back. 

After a minute, Remus hopped up and looked around, ready to explore more wonders of the earth. And as much as there was in their little isolated area, he was certain that there would be a lot more outside! Without warning, he darted out towards the tunnel and went straight through it, gasping as he saw all of the trees surrounding them. So, that was what they looked like in real life! He went to the tree with the most branches and ran his hand over the bark. It was rough, but not quite enough to be painful, and the thin branches were oddly bendy. He giggled and put his weight on some of the lower, thicker branches, using them to climb up high in an attempt to see all around. 

“Remus, be careful!” Rogue chastised as he finally caught up. “You’re going to fall!” 

Remus was too excited to listen! He climbed until he reached the top of the tree, looking out above the leaves and branches to see what he could find. There was some sort of weird, blue area far away in one direction and beside that- 

Remus gasped as he saw another building. It was a huge building and it looked so pretty, it had to be the palace Rogue was talking about! “Rogue, I see the palace!” 

“That’s great, now climb down before-” 

“You have to take me there! It looks so pretty and I bet there’s lots of nice people! I know that there are also criminals, mean ones, not nice ones like you, but there has to be a lot of nice people too, right?!” 

Rogue rolled his eyes. “Yes, Remus, there are a ton of nice people, but the palace would look a lot nicer if you actually got down here.” 

Remus groaned, but he knew Rogue was right, there was so much seeing, so much experiencing to do and he couldn’t do it all from that tree. He went back down the same way he went up and hopped down beside Rogue, smiling at him. “Which way to the kingdom?” 

Rogue just began walking, letting Remus follow him. 

“So, are there any cool stops on the way there?” Remus asked a few minutes into the walk. “Maybe I should see a small group of people before I go to an entire kingdom.” 

“Oh, you mean like any nice, little restaurants with friendly people?” 

“Yes!” 

“No.” 

Remus pouted. “You’re no fun...” 

Rogue shrugged. “I’m not out here for fun, I’m just helping you go see those lanterns so I can get my bag back.” 

Remus went up and grabbed his arm, smiling up at him. “Well, there’s no point in making yourself miserable the entire time, is there?” 

“I don’t like people. As long as I’m around another person, I will be miserable.”

Remus stopped for a split second before rushing to stay at Rogue’s side. “Wait, so you don’t have any friends? On purpose?!” 

There was a moment of hesitation before Rogue responded. “No, I don’t. I’m a thief, it’s just me here.” 

Remus caught that hesitation and began grinning. “No, you do have a friend! What are they like?” 

Yeah, Rogue was pretty sure Fang would not be calling himself his friend anymore. He also knew that Remus was too curious for his own good, not that he could blame him, and likely wouldn’t shut up about this until Rogue caved and responded. So, rather than draw out that process, he figured he should tell the truth. “I had a friend. His name is Fang and he’s a thief like me.” And a proud whore, but Remus didn’t need to know that. 

“Are you two not friends anymore, then? What happened?” 

“That’s none of your business. All you need to know is we’re not friends anymore.” 

“Aww...” 

Rogue just shrugged. “Thieving leads to a lonely life, I knew that when I started this.” 

Remus nodded. “So, you are lonely.” 

Rogue glared over at him. 

Remus shrunk down and moved a bit further away from him, defensively holding on to the rest of his long hair. 

Rogue frowned and sighed, deciding to soften up a bit. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine..” Remus muttered. “I know I talk a lot...” 

“I can’t blame you, aren’t I, like, the second person you’ve ever met?” 

He shrugged. “Yeah, father says the outside world is too dangerous for me...” 

Rogue nodded a bit and looked down. “Wow...” he whispered. 

“What?” 

“Nothing, it’s just surprising. Personally, I could see why he might want to protect you, but to hide you from the entire world?.. What happened to your mother?” 

Remus looked up at him. “My mother? I don’t have one.” 

“Oh..” he muttered, afraid he was touching a sensitive subject. “Did you lose her when you were younger?” 

“No, I just never had a mother.” 

With every new thing that Rogue learned about this guy, it felt like he ended up having another twenty questions. But it seemed like it was normal to Remus, he didn’t want to do anything to hurt him over such an, apparently, insignificant detail. “Okay.” 

Remus stared at him for a few more seconds, curious of why Rogue saw that as such a big detail, before shrugging it off and walking with him deeper into the woods. 

At some point, Rogue spotted a familiar bush and unconsciously followed a path that he and many other travelers had carved out, not really thinking about where he was going until he was almost too close. He stopped suddenly and looked around a bit before changing directions, going in the general direction that he knew the kingdom was in. 

“What was that?” Remus asked. “That was a really sudden turn, are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Rogue assured. “Everything’s fine, the trees are just a little tricky sometimes, we must’ve accidentally curved into a different direction, but I know some of these trees, this is the right way.” 

Remus nodded, but he was still a bit curious, looking back in the direction that they were walking before and smiling as he saw a building, a fairly large building with a path leading up to it. “Hey, what’s that?” 

Rogue looked in that direction and saw the same building, shuddering at the sight. “It’s nothing safe, especially not for you.”

Remus frowned and looked back at Rogue before walking towards the building, slipping between the denser trees and out of Rogue’s reach. 

“Remus,” he scolded. “It’s not safe there, there are a bunch of criminals that hang out there.” 

“I’m just going to get a closer look,” Remus argued. “I’m not actually going inside. If you’re so worried about me, follow me!” 

Without Fang, Rogue was worried about what happened if he took up that offer, but he couldn’t just let Remus wander out there on his own. It was arguably more dangerous for him to go.

“Fine, but slow down!” He walked around the dense trees, and waited to meet Remus on the other side, holding his hand out for his as he came into view. “Remus, if you get all scratched up or touch a poisonous plant, you can’t blame me for-” 

He was interrupted as he was snatched up by someone in the trees, the stranger putting a large hand over his mouth and wrapping his other arm around his torso, trapping his arms and only allowing him to kick around as he picked him up and ran towards the little restaurant. 

“Hey!” Remus cried out, ignoring how the tree branches scratched him as he ran the rest of the way out. “Hey, bring him back!” 

He heard a branch snap above him and looked up, barely moving out of the way before another stranger attempted to grab him. Remus screamed and looked around, quickly whipping about half of his remaining long hair around a sturdy enough looking branch and yanking himself up in the air, getting out of anyone’s reach and wrapping the rest of his hair around his wrist. He hopped over to a tree with denser branches and hid amongst the leaves, his green outfit camouflaging him pretty well, until he was sure the dangerous people down below were gone. 

Once he was sure that it was safe, he hopped from tree to tree until he was right outside of the restaurant, unable to look inside. He whined quietly and got down, hiding in a bush and making sure the coast was clear before making a run for it, bursting into the restaurant, ready to get his thief back. 


	6. Chapter 6

Rogue scowled as he was brought into the restaurant, already done fighting. “I was busy, I promised that guy I’d protect him for a bit,” he said as soon as he was able to speak again. 

“Ha! So much for that,” his capturer’s friend laughed. “He got away and you didn’t. Hopefully, he’s stupid enough to come back for you, you know you get whatever you want, on the house.” It was a benefit he got for befriending Fang. 

Rogue knew that and it was why he didn’t really want to take advantage of that at the moment. If these guys found out that he and Fang were having... problems, then he’d be in trouble. If they found out that he betrayed him, he’d be dead. Literally or otherwise. “I get that, but we’re on limited time, here. He wants to see those lanterns tomorrow night, we have to get going to the kingdom.” 

“You’ve got more than enough time for that,” his capture said as he walked with Rogue over his shoulder. “You can stay here for a bit and you’ll still hit by sundown.” 

“He hasn’t really been around that many people, I figured I’d get a little bonus for taking him to the festival events tomorrow. You guys know I’m basically unrecognizable by the people.” He didn't think about ever stealing from the common folk. And being mixed in with the citizens would effectively hide him from the palace guards. He’d thought it through. Honestly, he didn’t even want a bonus, he just figured that Remus might need more time than the average person to get there, especially with as many detours as this trip was already taking. 

“Alright, fighter, why don’t we settle you down with a drink and we can get that boy back for you.” 

Rogue groaned as he was, quite literally, hung up on the wall by his jacket. He wasn’t a particularly short guy, he was taller than average, but the walls were taller than him and the other guys were bigger than even he was. He crossed his arms and watched as they set up a glass of lemonade on a small platform beside him - just strong enough to hold a few pounds, otherwise, Rogue would use it to get himself down - grabbing the glass and drinking it as Remus burst through the door. 

“Give me my thief back!” he demanded, looking around and smiling as his eyes landed on him. 

“Hey, it’s Rogue’s little buddy,” one of Rogue’s captures said, approaching Remus and laughing as he backed away. “We’re not gonna hurt you, little guy. That was pretty impressive out there, using that rope to get out of the way.”

“Oh...” Remus smiled a bit. “Well, it’s definitely not rope,” he said, showing him the two long locks of hair that he’d wrapped around his wrists. 

“Is that all hair?” 

“Grew it myself!”

He laughed at that and clapped Remus on the back, sending him stumbling forward a few inches. “You’re alright, little buddy. Why don’t you try your hand at an axe, see if you have good aim with something other than that hair of yours?” 

“Uh... Sure?” 

He pulled out a couple of hand axes from the wall and walked with Remus to the set of bull's-eyes that were painted on the walls on either side of Rogue, who was definitely not happy with this. 

“This is not safe, he’d never touched one of those things,” he argued, reaching back in a feeble attempt to unhook his clothes. 

“Relax, he won’t hurt you. Go on, kid, like this.” He took one of the axes in his hand and chucked it at the wall, hitting a bull's-eye. 

“Hey, you’re good at that,” Remus said, smiling up at him. “I want to try!” 

“Of course!” He gave him the other axe and summarized the technique he’d use to throw it, letting him use both arms. 

Remus looked over at the wall and hummed, pulling the axe back and throwing it over at the target, hitting one of the outer rings, though his axe didn’t stick. 

“Not bad for a first timer! And Rogue said you’d need his help,” he laughed, clapping Remus’s back again. 

Remus chuckled and rubbed his sore shoulder. “Well, I’d feel better taking him back with me. You mind if I take him back?” 

He thought for a second before waving his friend over, who Remus recognized as the guy who tried to snatch him up. “What do you think? Should we let old Rogue down?” 

His friend thought for a second before shaking his head. “Nah, he’ll just run out on us.” He looked down at Remus, who was a tiny bit intimidated by him. “How about you two stay for a little food and then we’ll let him down? I don’t know how you got him to stick around, but Rogue knows how to vanish, it’s a really annoying habit.” 

“Oh, that’s fine!” Remus assured, though Rogue was pretty sure that it was not fine. 

“Let me down!” he called out from the wall. 

The two ruffians ignored him and took Remus to the bar, getting him a sandwich and a glass of water. 

Rogue groaned as his own food was brought, but didn’t argue, instead just eating it. 

“So, you two are headed to the kingdom to see those nice lanterns?” one of the ruffians asked Remus. 

He nodded excitedly and swallowed what he’d been eating before responding. “Yes! I’ve never really been outside, but I’ve seen them every year and they’re so incredible, I need to see them up close! I’ve been dreaming about it since I was little!” 

“Well, what took you so long?” the other asked. “Those things are gorgeous, we get a decent view hiding from the guards here, it has to look nice up in the kingdom.” 

Remus’s smile shrunk just the tiniest bit as he shrugged. “It’s a long story,” he said with an awkward laugh. 

“You don’t have to tell us, all that matters is Rogue gets you there in time. It’s always nice to live your childhood dreams.” He ruffled the shorter, brown hair on Remus’s head and left him to eat in peace. 

Remus sighed and kept himself from frowning, not wanting anyone else to ask what was upsetting him so much. What was upsetting him was thinking about his father as much as he was. Was he worried? Did he even know Remus was gone yet? Why did he keep him from a world that was clearly not as dangerous as he said? Why  _ did _ it take this long? 

As Remus sat and ate, Patton was walking through the forest, nearing the kingdom when he was interrupted by a group of palace guards. Years ago, he may have been afraid of being recognized, but he was in his fifties and he looked at least thirty years younger. He was unrecognizable.

“You there!” One of them called out. “Have you seen a man passing through, wearing navy clothing and glasses?” 

“Actually, it’s more of an indigo,” another guard corrected, tutting as the first guard glared at him. 

“A man wearing  _ indigo _ .” 

Patton shook his head, feigning worry. What this man did was of no concern to him, he just needed to get his son his present and get back as quickly as possible. “No, I’m sorry. I’m afraid I haven’t seen anyone. I was just on a walk.” 

“Understood. Well, if you see him, please keep your distance, he’s a dangerous criminal. He’s stolen the lost prince’s crown and Prince Roman has ordered us to get it back at all costs.” 

Stole the lost prince’s crown. That sent a shudder down Patton’s spine. Why would anyone steal his son’s crown? He’d been in Patton’s care for twenty years, there was no reason for that to just happen now. Unless this was some sort of sign... Was somebody going to steal his son? “Of course. I’ll keep my eye out for anything suspicious.” He smiled until the guards went on their way before turning back. He’d only been walking for a few hours, he’d get back quickly if he just ran. He kept a tight hold of his basket, not wanting to lose the lovely food his son had prepared, and just ran through the trees, refusing to let anything distract him. It took another couple of hours, but he eventually made it back, attempting to calm himself before walking to the tower. 

“Remus, I’m home!” he called out as he reached the bottom of the tower, feeling his heart sink as he didn’t get his son’s usual quick response. “Remus?!”

Patton knew there was the other entrance, but he also knew he couldn’t be rash. What if Remus was just in another room, busy? Patton paced back and forth for a few minutes, knowing that giving away his second entrance would be an incredibly big mistake. That would take away one of the things keeping Remus there: the illusion that Patton needed him to get in and out. 

“Remus?!” Patton cried out a few minutes later, much more frantic. How could this be happening?! He thought he was just paranoid, it had happened before, but Remus always would’ve answered by then, even as a kid! 

That was it, he couldn’t wait around and waste anymore time! Patton went down to where the door was on the tower and ripped out the rocks he’d stacked in there. They only served to hide the door and to remind himself after long days that he still needed to wait for Remus to let him up, so they weren’t packed in particularly tight and it was only a matter of seconds before Patton was barreling up the stairs and into the tower, practically tearing the place apart in a futile attempt to look for his son. 

“No!” he cried out as he got back to the main area, dropping to his knees as he accepted that his son was gone. “No, Remus!” He couldn’t be gone! Patton had worked so hard to keep him safe and hidden and he could just tell he was just about to get Remus one step closer to being the prince he knew he could be, to breaking his awful obsession with bad things. Now, someone has gone and ruined everything. 

Patton let out a few sobs before looking around, desperate to find some kind of sign to help him find his son, to help bring him back to where it was safe. After a few minutes, he started to storm back up the stairs, tripping on a loose board. That was weird, that board had always squeaked, but it didn’t jut out enough to trip him. Patton wiped his eyes and checked it out, finding a dark bag stuffed underneath. A bag that one could’ve described as navy blue. 

Patton couldn’t even bring himself to look and see what was inside, but the weight of the jewels pressing into his fingers through the fabric made it pretty clear. He gripped it tightly before shoving it to the bottom of his basket, not caring about the food in there and just using it to block the sight of the bag before going and grabbing a knife. After all, he didn’t have magic hair he could use to protect himself with. And, once he was done with him, neither would Remus.

Remus wasn’t the only one with an unknown danger coming for him. The difference was, well... Roman should’ve been expecting it. After all, he was the crown prince and this was a decision he made on an impulse and he’d made it so quickly that he forgot to think about how the hell his parents would react to their second son being lost, how the king and queen would react to their crown prince disappearing on them. 

They’d sent the guards to look all throughout the castle and all throughout the kingdom, but there were absolutely no reports of a young boy with golden hair travelling anywhere. They’d even asked every single prisoner if they’d witnessed Fang, the only missing prisoner, leaving with the boy, but it was always the same thing. 

“If you find him, will you let Fang go?” 

“Of course not!” 

“Then I didn’t see anything.” 

Because, honestly, all of those prisoners would get out someday, even if it was a bit further in the future. Fang, however? He and his partner had such a long record on them that the fact that Fang wasn’t killed on sight was a bit of a miracle. And all of them in there liked Fang, for one reason or another, though mainly for a single reason. None of them would sell him out and none of the guards could lie about it. 

Except for the new guy. 

“If you find him, will you let Fang go?” 

“Of course,” he assured. “The king and queen have no interest in him, they just want their son back.” 

“Oh, well, why didn’t you just say so? Yeah, I saw Fang leave with the prince this morning! Don’t know why, but if you’re going to look for them, there’s only one person who’s slippery enough to find a guy like Fang Horrific and that’s Violet Death. He used to be an assassin, but I heard something about the game getting to bloody, so he switched over to just a plain old bounty hunter. All you got to do is slip into a bar or anywhere with a whole bunch of us criminals and mention his name and a prize and he’ll be here in no time!” 

The guards seemed reasonably wary, but what else did he have to go off of? “And you promise this will work?..” 

“Yep!” 

“Thank you.” The guard cheered to himself before going to tell his higher ups what he’d heard, immediately going to find this Violet Death. 

Just like they were told, they went to bars in town and spread the word before simply waiting. 

It was only about an hour before he showed up in the palace, a mere few feet from the king and queen. 

“So, you need somebody to find Fang Horrific and Prince Roman?” 

The king jumped up as he noticed the stranger, pulling his wife close behind him. “How did you get in here?! Guards!” 

“Relax,” the bounty hunter said with a shrug. “I just want confirmation. You want your prince and your little prince is with Fang Horrific, right?” 

The two royals looked at each other before looking back at him, nodding. 

“We just want our son back,” the queen said. 

“Great. I’ll get him and you get that prize ready for me. Your prince will be back before you know it.” He went over to the nearest window and pulled it open before hopping out, disappearing into the day. 


	7. Chapter 7

After a few hours of walking, Fang and Roman decided on taking a break, enjoying some of the food and water that Roman had snuck out of the castle.

“So, can I ask you something?” Fang asked as he finished his share of their meal. 

Roman was pretty sure he knew what it was about. “You can ask anything, I just can’t promise that I’ll answer...” 

Fang nodded. That was understandable enough. “It’s just strange, isn’t it? I mean, presumably, you got those powers from the flower that healed your mother, why are they so destructive?” Fang knew a thing or two about magic, he’d spent years in his past searching for some way to get rid of the scales that decorated his skin. “No offense or anything, but shouldn’t you be a healer, if anything?..” 

Roman shrugged and played with a lock of his hair. “Not really... I did some research myself and I found out that the flower was rumored to have powers bestowed from the sun. The sun is... It’s burning hot and blindingly bright and it takes just as much life as it creates... It’s beautiful, but... Well, it’s destructive.” The expression on his face said he was feeling nothing but shame, but it wasn’t over his hair. He was ashamed to feel so proud of what he could do. It was deadly, but magic was such a rare gift that he felt beyond proud to have it for himself. 

Fang nodded, silently pitying the prince. He could understand what it felt like to have such a seemingly evil trait. “Well, you very clearly inherited the beauty part, but you did choose not to be destructive. That says a lot more about you than some power you didn’t ask for.” 

Roman smiled softly, but he knew that already. It may have taken him years to teach himself that, but he knew it. “Thank you... It’s part of why I want to find my brother. If I inherited the sun’s destructive powers, then maybe he inherited the moon’s healing powers. And, if our parents decided to choose to ignore him just because of his magic abilities, I want to prove that they were wrong...” 

Not one day went by where Roman felt they genuinely missed his brother and he wasn’t wrong. They’d had a bad feeling about him and not six months later, he was taken. Surely, it was a sign of good, a sign that they were right to devote their time and attention to Roman. 

But that was so bad, so wrong and Roman knew it. And he wanted them to know it. But this wasn’t the time for his parental issues and he knew it, so Roman shook the thoughts from his head and turned to Fang with a smile. “Sorry.. What about yourself? I mean, you know I’m curious about your scales, but...” And this was a question he really hoped he wouldn’t regret asking, “I’m also pretty curious about your... Habits. You know... Not the thieving ones?” 

Fang had two hobbies: thieving and whoring, and that question interested him way more than the first. He grinned and leaned in Roman’s direction. “What do you want to know about my ‘habits’?” 

“Not like that,” Roman quickly corrected, correctly assuming that Fang was flirting with him. “I want to know why you do it. I mean... I personally would never see myself doing anything like that and, while I respect your decision, I am curious as to why you've made it.” 

Fang tutted and leaned back on the log he was sitting on, shrugging. “Well, I hope you’re not looking to hear some kind of tragic backstory about how I’ve been searching for love because you’re not going to find it. Truthfully, I just think it’s fun. Physical intimacy means nothing to me besides a good time and, if I’m lucky, money.” “Lucky” being if he managed to catch the eye of anybody who didn’t assume he would whore around for free.

“Really?” Roman hummed, curiously. “I’m not trying to judge you in any way, I just... I don’t know, I can’t understand that. I know everyone is different, but I was always taught that something like that had to be something special, otherwise it was wrong or dangerous.” 

“Eh.. It used to be, until I got a reputation. To be frank, if somebody were to get me sick, especially on purpose, they would be hunted and killed for sport.” The criminals of the kingdom needed something to do while he was unable to bed them, after all. “I sold my first time for money and was ‘invited’ to a lot of parties until I started thieving.” As it would turn out, men would gladly steal a teenager’s innocence, but as soon as you stole their wallets in return, it became a problem. “I just kept it up for fun. I’m sure if someone were to evaluate my mind inside and out, there might be something to do with my scales, but to my knowledge, that has nothing to do with it.”

Roman nodded and took a sip of his water, interested in hearing more. “What is the story behind your scales?” 

“I was born with them. And the literal fangs came in with my adult teeth. Most people see me and think I’m some horrific freak, but they make me quite the commodity in a sexual situation.”

Roman didn’t understand that, but he still nodded. “Without showing me, where do they end?..” 

Fang laughed at that, finding it adorable that Roman was catching on so quickly. “Well, they’re on the entire left side of my body. Not necessarily as dense as on my face, but they’re there.” Roman may have said that he wasn’t interested in looking, but Fang figured it wouldn’t be too obscene as he lifted up the side of his shirt, revealing the green scales that decorated the left side of his body. 

Instinctively, the prince averted his eyes for a few seconds before sucking it up and turning to look, figuring it couldn’t be too much. 

“I’m not going to flash you,” Fang joked. 

“I know that,” Roman snapped back. “It’s just... Instinct, I guess.” He looked at the scales, admiring how they looked in the few bits of sunlight that shone through the threes above and moved to sit beside him. “Can I touch them?..” 

“These and not the ones on my face?” Fang asked with a slightly suggestive tone. “It’s like you knew I’d be exposing myself for you.” 

“I don’t have to,” Roman quickly clarified. “They’re just... I don’t know, they’re pretty. The ones on your face are too, but-” He cut himself off as Fang took Roman’s hand and placed it on his waist, letting him feel the scales. 

“I joke, Roman. You don’t have to worry about disrespecting me or making me feel like you want to mess around with me, you’ve made it clear that you don’t want to and I want to make it clear that I understand that and it’s okay. It’s just so rare that I meet someone as reserved as you and I can’t help but to pick on you for it,” he said with a grin. “But I do respect your boundaries, do not forget that.” 

Roman nodded slightly and ran his hand over the scales. “A lot of the princes and princesses that my parents try to set me up with need for me to clarify that much. Otherwise, they either get incredibly offended or try to escalate things very quickly. Never successfully, it’s just frustrating. It makes me just not want to marry.” 

“I get that. I’ve never been attacked, but I’ve had guys assume I was playing hard to get and keep trying to chase me until I just scream at them to stop. More frustrating than anything. I’m a whore, but I’m not always up for a fun time, especially not after a tough job.”

“I guess you won’t be doing much for a long time after this, then,” Roman joked, pulling his hand away. 

Fang laughed at that. “I guess I won’t be. Maybe you should help me make up for lost time later.” 

Roman shrugged, starting to catch onto his joking tone. “If we find him, I just might.” 

“Right, otherwise, it’s just a ton of money,” Fang joked. 

“For putting up with me? Whatever you ask.” Roman rested his hand on the log, blushing and moving it away as it found Fang’s. “Sorry...” 

“Don’t worry about it,” he hummed. “It’s my hand, not my dick. But maybe we should get going?”

“Sure...” Roman helped him gather their things before starting to walk with him again, making it a few minutes before they heard something in the trees. 

Fang pulled out his knife and Roman gripped a thick strand of his hair as someone emerged, the stranger grinning widely. 

“Oh my god, Fang! Long time no see, I’m glad you got out of prison!” 

Fang sighed and put his weapon away. “You can’t sneak up on people like that.” 

He shrugged. “You guys literally call me ‘Whisper’, I can do what I want. Now, are you going to introduce me to the prince or not?”

Fang rolled his eyes and looked at Roman, who seemed understandably worried. “Its fine, Roman. This is Whisper, he’s probably the best spy in the kingdom and an incredibly annoying one at that. If there’s anything to know, you can bet that he knows it.” 

“Which is why I know that Fang Horrific is escorting Prince Roman on a mission that nobody seems to know the details of.” 

“Oh,” Roman muttered, feeling only slightly relieved. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Whisper. Is that your full name?” 

He laughed at that. “It’s my code name. For you, your highness, I don’t mind saying that my full name is Remy Aisling.” 

Roman nodded and looked over at Fang. “Do you have a full name?” 

“Not one that I feel comfortable sharing.” 

“Don’t take it personally,” Remy quickly added. “He’s a tough guy to crack. His name was hidden so well that it took forever for me to figure it out.” Plus, it was no risk to him. He was dead, on paper. 

“That’s fine,” Roman assured before thinking of something. “Do you... Would you happen to know anything about my brother? The lost prince?” 

Remy gave him a sympathetic smile. “So that’s what you’re out here for. Sorry, but that goes earlier than my database...” 

“What about Rogue?” Fang asked with an almost cruel grin. “I want to have a talk with him next time I see him.”

“Oh,” Remy said with a bit of a laugh. “Oh, I put together what happened between you two and I know you want to do more than talk. If I tell you, promise that you won’t hurt him too badly. I kind of like having him around.” 

Fang growled, but he knew that Remy was the quickest way to him. “Fine.” 

“Last I saw, he was down at he hangout. He had some weird kid with him, some shut in with a weird chunk of really, really long white hair.” 

Roman gasped and grabbed Fang’s arm tightly. “You don’t think that could be him, could it?!” 

“I don’t know,” Remy hummed. “The rest of his hair was brown. I know the prince wasn’t around for long, but he had pure white hair.” 

“Right...” Roman sighed and loosened his grip. 

“Sorry... Oh! Fang! I wanted to warn you, I heard that the king and queen are getting Violet to help find you and the prince,” he began, his smile dropping. “I’d be careful if I were you. I don’t think he mentioned you much, but you know how he feels.” 

Fang groaned. “Great. Well, I’ll keep an eye out, thanks.” 

“No problem. I’ll see you around.” He made his way back into the trees and disappeared. 

“Who’s Violet?” Roman asked, almost hesitantly. “He sounds bad...” 

“He’s.... A bounty hunter. He won’t hurt you, he knows better than to kill his mark, but we have some bad history... We dated.” 

“You date?” Roman asked before he could stop himself. 

“I tried it. Hated it. Gave up whoring around while we did, he didn’t believe me about that or anything else I ever said, so I up and disappeared from his life. I haven’t seen him since, but I don’t doubt that he wants some kind of revenge. He was such a hot head and don’t get me started with those anger issues...” He rolled his eyes. 

“Um... Why did you date him, then?” 

Fang shrugged and began walking. “He seemed cool. And the fantastic sex was a bonus.” 

“Oh.” Roman followed him. 

“You keep expecting long backstories and I’m sorry, but I don’t do those. I don’t particularly know you well and, even if I did, you heard it from Remy, even he had trouble finding things out about me.”

“It’s fine, I don’t need a long backstory, I’m just curious, I guess. I’ve always read stories where all of the criminals had some long sob story about why they did what they did and all they need is someone to share with. I know it’s cheesy, but this is such a huge favor that I want to help give you the comfort of being that person...” 

Fang sighed quietly. He couldn’t blame Roman for that much. “Fine. I have my share of stories, but not everybody has a sob story. And I’m not going to just share, I rather like keeping things close to the chest. It feels safe, which is more than I thought I would ever tell you.” 

Roman nodded. “Well, if you won’t pressure me into anything intimate, I won’t pressure you into anything personal. You can share what you want and keep what you want to yourself, I’ll stop asking.” 

Fang smiled softly. “You’re going to have to stop. If you keep being nice, I might have to befriend you.” 

Roman chuckled. “You know, I wouldn’t mind that as much as you think I would.” 

Fang knew that. Roman was kind, graceful, everything one would expect from a prince. And it felt real, which, admittedly, made him a bit wary. After all, he could control his actions. He couldn’t control his emotions. 


	8. Chapter 8

After eating, Rogue seemed like he was in a rush to leave, which was no surprise to Remus, not after he saw the look on his face as the weird person in black clothing and weird, dark glasses went over and talked to him. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious. So, naturally, he asked about it soon after Rogue was finally let down from the wall and they left, figuring he wouldn’t want to talk about it in there. 

“So, who was that guy who went to talk to you?” he asked. “It didn’t seem like you liked him.” 

“That’s Whisper,” Rogue said with a heavy sigh. “He’s a bit obnoxious and he’s our biggest source of information. There’s somebody who’s no doubt looking for me who I don’t want finding me and he’ll give up my location without hesitation. Why, I’m not sure, but I don’t want to be anywhere near here anymore.” The fact that Remy didn’t let everybody there know the real reason why Fang was in jail was favor enough, he knew Remy was going to tell him where he was at. 

“What did you do?” Remus asked, more curious than before. “Wait, do you kill people? I thought you were just a thief and I know you probably won’t kill me if you do, I just want to know-” 

“I don’t,” Rogue interrupted. “I try to avoid dealing with people at all, much less hurting them. It seems pointless to me.” Technically, if anything happened to Fang, he wouldn’t be the one killing him. At least, that was what he was trying to convince himself, but it wasn’t working particularly well. 

Remus seemed satisfied enough by that answer, nodding and backing down. Rogue probably would’ve killed him already, if he really wanted to. And Remus could’ve protected himself in that scenario, which was fine. It would’ve upset him, obviously, but Rogue still was a thief. He was still a criminal. 

Remus went quiet after that, something that Rogue easily noticed. It was kind of nice to finally have some peace and quiet, but the last thing Rogue wanted was for Remus to be afraid of him. He wasn’t sure if it was just because it would make the job easier or if it was because he genuinely wanted Remus to trust him here, but he didn’t want him to be afraid. He enjoyed the quiet for about an hour before it got too heavy, sighing before finally speaking up. “I’m not going to tell you exactly what happened, but I will say this: I made a choice and it ended up hurting someone. I knew it would and I still did it for my own benefit. I don’t particularly regret it, I did it to save myself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad about it. He can take good care of himself, I wouldn’t do anything like that to you.” Fang probably already had a guard wrapped around his fingers, he was probably doing fine for however long he was going to stay there. 

The slight reassurance was nice, but Remus still wasn’t sure what to feel. “Did I make a mistake by making you escort me?” 

Rogue shrugged and gave a nonchalant hum. “It depends. We haven’t even gotten to our destination, so it’d be hard to decide for sure, but if you all of a sudden can’t trust me for a mistake I made that had nothing to do with you, then yes.” 

Right... Rogue was right, he may have had a pretty shady background, but the fact that he was a thief was the entire reason Remus had asked for him to escort him. If he’d wanted to hurt him, he would’ve done it already. “Alright, I’m just a little nervous, I guess. I mean, you did get kidnapped and they were your friends, but I didn’t know that.” 

“Not friends, more so acquaintances,” Rogue corrected. “I have a complicated relationship with the other criminals around.” He wasn’t friendly, they didn’t like him. They liked Fang and Fang happened to be Rogue’s one friend. 

Remus smiled and nudged him a bit. “Am I your friend?” 

Rogue hummed in thought. “Let’s see... Friend. Somebody who I don’t mind spending time around and would prefer to spend time around compared to other people, whether or not that connection is very logical...” 

Remus frowned a bit, assuming that he was going to hear a wholehearted no. 

Instead, Rogue smiled a bit and shrugged. “I suppose I would call you a friend.” 

Immediately, Remus beamed and reached out to pull Rogue into a hug, quickly stopping himself. “How do friends show affection? Is it hugs? Can I hug you? I’m hugging you.” He wrapped his arms tightly around Rogue and squeezed, wanting to hold his first friend tight and never let him go. 

Rogue chuckled, though he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the situation. “Alright, please let me go. I understand your excitement, but most people do appreciate when you at least ask permission before touching them.” 

“Really?” Remus asked as he pulled away. “Okay, that’s fine. Can’t blame me for being excited, though, I never really had a friend before.” 

“I understand, I just do not like being touched.” He straightened himself out before continuing to walk. “But I do suppose we are friends, at least for now.” 

Remus chuckled awkwardly, not quite understanding those terms. “For now?... What do you mean for now, are we just going to stop being friends after this?..” 

Look, Rogue didn’t want to hurt his feelings, those weren’t his intentions, but he had to be realistic here. “I’m sorry, but I assumed that after this, you’d return to your tower and I wouldn’t really get to see you again, what with your strict father and all. Perhaps I could come visit and you could leave some sort of sign showing whether or not it’s safe for me to come see you, but I am a criminal, I can’t always be coming out to check on you.” 

“Oh..” Remus muttered, playing with his white hair. “But what if.... What if I don’t want to go back? I... I mean, of course, we can go and get your stuff or whatever, but what if I don’t want to stay in my tower anymore? Maybe I can stay with you, you can teach me how to live like you. I’m already good with my hair, I can help you.” 

“I don’t know if that’d be such a great idea. I mean, sure, it doesn't seem too bad now, but I’m wanted for several crimes, I’d be hanged the second I was in custody of the kingdom. I’m just a thief, but I’ve been a thief for a very long time and, worst case scenario, if I were to get caught, then you’d be left on your own and I’m not sure you would-” 

“What? That I could survive on my own? That I could... That I can take care of myself?” Remus snapped, hopping into defense. It was the same sort of implication he heard from his father all the time, that he had to be locked up and hidden away because he couldn’t take care of himself, whether it was because he was too weak or inexperienced. But he wasn’t allowed to snap back at his father, not without risking the little bit of white hair he’d been allowed to keep. “I’m not a little kid, Rogue, I’m a grown man and just because you happened to be allowed outside more doesn’t make you any better than me!” 

Rogue was surprised by the sudden rise coming from Remus, but he didn’t let it show too much. “I’m not implying that I’m in any way better than you, I’m implying that if you don’t have any help, it’s hard for anybody to survive out here. The only reason I’ve managed to survive is I’ve only been alone for less than a day, I’m trying to think about what would be better for you here.” 

Remus clenched his teeth. “No, you’re just thinking about how to make things easier for you. You didn’t want to do this for me, I made you because I had something of yours and you’re just trying to make sure you’ll be rid of me as soon as you get what you want. Well, you know what? I’ll make it easier for you.” 

Before he could think about what he was doing, Remus turned and ran into the tangled trees of the forest, catching Rogue off guard just enough to get a decent head start before he was being chased. Remus knew he was being stupid, deep down, he knew, but he couldn't stop himself. He'd never been free to run or to fight back against someone keeping him from what he wanted and he wasn't going to let his own logical thoughts stop him now. 

“Remus, wait! You’re being irrational, just talk to me!” 

Remus ignored him and gathered up his hair, making sure it wouldn’t be an obstacle as he ran straight for a sunny clearing, hoping he could get onto a path and be rid of Rogue before he could catch him. Rogue wanted to get rid of him and his father supposedly wanted him to be safe and well, but Remus wanted his freedom. This way, everyone would be happy. 

Remus wiped away the tears he didn’t even realize had formed as he ran into the clearing, quickly bumping into and knocking over somebody else. As he did, he started to realize that maybe this wasn’t his best idea. 

“Oh my goodness, are you okay? Get away from him! Get back or... Or I’ll hurt you!” 

Remus looked up at the person yelling at him and saw someone with long, golden hair and a covered face. That was strange, the other thieves were acting like his long hair was so rare, yet here was another person with that kind of growth. Maybe it was just a woman thing or maybe they were confused by his choppy haircut. 

“Remus!” Rogue called out as he finally reached the clearing. He was quick to grab Remus’s shoulder and pull him off of the stranger, though he almost dropped him as he saw who he’d landed on. “You?! How are you out here?!” 

Fang chuckled almost angrily as he sat up, rubbing his head. “Roman, you stay back there, I’ve got something to deal with here.” He pulled himself to his feet and started marching over to Rogue, who held Remus between the two of them. 

“Fang. Fang, stop, you know we have an honor code to uphold.” 

Steal and don’t kill. And then there was the promise he’d made to Whisper, but he only promised not to permanently injure him. Everything else was free game, as far as he was concerned. “Don’t talk to me about any kind of honor code after what you did! I bet you wish I’d died so you wouldn’t have to deal with me afterwards. Now, put that guy down or let him get hurt for the bullshit you pulled.” Fang stopped for a second and gave Rogue a bit of time to think, though it wasn’t like he’d needed it. 

Without a second thought, Rogue shoved Remus out of their fight, clenching his teeth as Fang grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. 

“I may not have been in that prison for long, but if it wasn’t for the kid over there, I would’ve been dead!”

“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been caught!” 

As the two argued, Roman blocked out the sound and stared at the stranger that this other guy had appeared with, slowly approaching him. 

Remus stared up at the other weirdo, Roman, right? And watched him as he came closer, though he didn’t look like he was going to hurt him. Remus pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off, glancing back at Rogue as he and the other person yelled at each other. Remus just ran away from Rogue and made him chase him through those trees and Rogue still pushed him out of harm’s way. Maybe they were friends... 

Roman gently put his hands on this stranger’s shoulders and turned him to face him, looking deep into his green eyes. 

Ooh, red eyes. Those were interesting, but Remus didn’t know people could have red eyes. Green, blue, and brown seemed to be the eye colors that most people had. “I like your eyes, weirdo.” 

Roman almost laughed, holding back tears. There was no way... Was there? “Thank you. I got them from a magic flower. That and my hair.” 

Remus smiled widely. “No way, you have magic hair too? What does yours do? Mine can heal, it’s pretty cool.” 

Healing... This had to be him. “I know you,” Roman said without another second of hesitation. “You have magic hair, you have those green eyes, you look just like me with a mustache, I know you!” 

A few feet away, Rogue and Fang were still in a heated argument, both of them refusing to admit that maybe they’d made a bad choice last night and it was really starting to piss Fang off. He slammed Rogue’s back against a tree and pulled back his fist to hit him in the face, easily holding him still. 

“Wait!” Roman called out quickly, grabbing Fang’s arm and pulling it away. “Wait, don’t hurt him! I have to thank him.” 

Fang scoffed, though he refused to look away from Rogue’s stupidly stubborn expression. “And what could you possibly thank this traitor for?” 

“He brought me my brother.” 


	9. Chapter 9

Alright, that caught Fang’s attention. It caught everyone’s attention as they turned to look at the beaming prince, all equally confused. 

“What are you talking about?” Remus asked. “I’ve never met you before. I don’t have any brothers.” 

Roman shook his head. “I know, you wouldn’t remember me. You were kidnapped when we were just babies, but I know it has to be you. Has your hair always been that short and brown? At least, where it’s not long and magical, like mine?” 

If it weren’t for the fact that this guy clearly had hair that was just as magical as his own, Remus wouldn’t have thought about admitting his truth. “No, it was really long and white, too. My dad just...” Remus sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. “I mean, he got kind of frustrated when I kept asking him if I could go outside with him, so he started chopping it off as a punishment. Whenever it got cut, it turned brown and started only growing as fast as regular hair, like his.. Does yours do that?” 

“I don’t know...” He’d never let a single soul touch his hair, much less cut it. But, if this really was his brother, the only person with the same magic that had the same weaknesses, there was only one way to prove it to him. He reached into the bag that he’d been carrying for Fang and pulled out a knife, Remus immediately hopping into defense. Without another word, Roman pulled out a piece of hair from the back of his head and looked at it. It was a relatively small lock of hair, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t his hair, his hair that he’d been growing out since literal birth and that he’d threatened to kill over. But, if this was his brother, it would be worth it. 

“You and I, if I’m right, are identical twins. If so, my hair will do the exact same thing as yours and turn brown,” he explained, partially trying to push back until the moment where he absolutely had to cut off the little bit of his hair. “And if I’m wrong, I will have done this for nothing... But if it’s the only way to prove that you really are my long lost brother, I’ll do it.” 

Roman took a deep breath and pressed the blade of the knife against his hair, about to cut it through when Remus stopped him, grabbing his wrist. 

“Wait! Wait...” Remus said, not wanting anybody else to have to go through the feeling of losing their magic. “When you use your hair magic, how do you turn it on?..” 

“With a song,” Roman responded without a thought. “I sing and it’s activated, but... You really wouldn’t want to see my magic at work.” 

“But your hair glows. It has to. I need to see that.”

Roman shook his head. “No, I really shouldn’t. Every time I sing, something bad happens. I can’t do that, not when I just found you...” 

Remus crossed his arms over his chest, his stubborn streak coming through. “It’s only fair. If I’m going to believe that you’re my supposed brother, then I’m going to need to hear your song.”

As terrified as he was of his own powers hurting the person who could be his brother, the person who had become his friend, or the person who was possibly his brother’s friend, Roman was even more terrified of letting this slip when he was so close. “Alright... I’ll do it. But I’ll need some distance.” He began gathering up his hair, not wanting to take a chance when it came to letting anybody get hurt, and kept it gathered at his feet, waiting until everyone was at least a few feet away before starting his song. 

“Crescent high above. Evolving as you go.” Roman practically trembled as he saw his hair glowing as golden as the sun, begging for nothing to happen. 

Remus saw what was happening and started believing him, at least more so than he already was. But, as much as he wanted to just listen in, there was something just so compelling about Roman’s song, something pulling him to join along. 

“Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine.” 

“Raise what lies beneath. And let the darkness grow.”

As the two finished the second lines of their song, they both paused, seeming to almost be caught in a trance as they locked eyes. 

Remus wasn’t sure what compelled him to do it, but he took a step forward, holding his arm out and Roman, compelled by the same unknown force, took it, grabbing his arm at the elbow and feeling a rush as Remus’s hand did the same. 

The two closed their eyes and leaned forward, their foreheads touching as they began singing their songs again. Their lyrics may not have matched up, but their magic worked beautifully together as they sung together in an eerily beautiful harmony. 

As they did, Remus seemed to be completely locked in his trance, lifting up a hand and burying it in Roman’s golden glowing hair, the golden magic flowing through his arm. 

“Hey, don’t-” Fang began shouting, moving to yank Remus away when Rogue stopped him. 

“Wait... I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” He’d managed to spot what Fang hadn’t in his moment of panic, the other seeing it a few seconds later. 

As the brothers started the second verses of their song, the golden magic started working it’s way up Remus’s arm and, rather than burning his flesh, it simply ran up his arm with a beautiful glow, going up Remus’s shoulder and neck before encompassing his head, specifically his hair. Remus’s hair began standing on end as the two sang, the golden magic fading to a softer silver and going down to the tips of his hair, then further than that as Remus’s white hair began regenerating itself. In the blink of an eye, the hair was down at Remus’s feet and it only grew from there, getting longer and longer until it matched with the rest of Remus’s hair. 

Each brother may have been incredibly powerful on their own, but they were still only half of the same source, Remus with the healing powers of the moon, of the silver roots and stem of the plant, while Roman had the destructive powers of the sun, of the golden flower and leaves of the plant. Together, under the right circumstances, the two could do the impossible, such as regenerating the magic hair that Remus had lost to his captor’s cruelty.

As the two finished their song, the glowing faded away and the two brothers finally were pulled out of their trance, Roman opening his eyes first and gasping as he realized what had happened. Remus’s hand was in his hair, he was touching his hair, his magic, deadly hair, and Remus was just standing there, still leaning forward with closed eyes and an almost pained look on his face. Roman yanked himself away with a scream, thinking that he’d doomed his brother and panicking over it, his mind racing too fast for him to see what had really happened. 

Without hesitation, Fang ran over to his side, grabbing his shoulders and attempting to calm him down as Rogue ran over to see what was up with Remus. He may not have been dead, but he definitely seemed dazed, Rogue helping him to sit on the ground. 

“Roman, it’s okay!” Fang assured. “Calm down, you didn’t kill him, he’s okay.”

Roman stopped screaming, but continued his frantic breathing pattern as Fang attempted to calm him down, looking down at Remus. 

Just as he’d said, Remus was far from dead, groaning and holding his head as he sat with Rogue on the forest floor. “My head is killing me... What did you do?” he groggily asked Roman, running a hand through his hair. Only, this time, his hand didn’t just go through his hair. His hair seemed to go on and on in a way that Remus hadn’t experienced in years and, just like that, his headache was forgotten. Remus whipped around where he was sitting and gasped as he saw a pile of white hair sitting behind him, just as long and beautiful as the rest of, what had been, remaining white hair. There it was, the hair that he’d been missing for all of these years, the symbol of freedom and power that his father had tried stripping away from him! 

No... Not his father. How could he have been Remus’s father if Roman was his brother? 

Remus jumped to his feet and grabbed Roman’s shoulders, looking at him as seriously as possible. “Do you know who your father is?... That man that I’ve been staying with all of these years, is he not... Is he not actually anybody to me?” 

Roman hesitated for a second before grabbing Remus the same way. “I know our father. That man who took you did so because of our parents...” This next part hurt to admit, but it was the truth. “They... They didn’t want to accept you as their son. They saw your pure white hair and my golden hair and assumed yours was a bad omen, that you were marked for death...” Roman’s voice was soft and almost guilt ridden, though he had done absolutely nothing wrong. “When you were taken, they assumed you were right. But-” he quickly added, looking back up at Remus, “I knew they were wrong. I knew ever since I was a child that you were out there and that I’d find you one day and... And I’m sorry it took me so long, but I found you.” He pulled Remus into a tight hug, trying not to cry on his shoulder. “I found you... It’s all I’ve wanted since I was little...” 

Remus wished he could’ve been as joyfully sentimental in the moment, but that meant so much more for him than Roman could’ve imagined. Remus spent the first twenty years of his life stuck in a tower, hidden away where he’d only ever seen one other person before, because his magic hair was a weird color? The man who chopped away his hair, the one thing that gave him the hope to live on a day to day basis, wasn’t even his father? 

Roman noticed that Remus hadn’t hugged back and assumed that he’d crossed a boundary, pulling away and looking up at Remus’s shocked expression. “Is something wrong?..” 

After a second or so, Remus nodded. “Yes... Something... Something is wrong.” He looked at Roman, starting to look desperate. “I don’t know what to do now... I can’t... I can’t go back to that tower, but if our parents didn’t want me then, what makes you think they’ll want me now? I mean... You’re out here with him and he doesn’t look like any kind of guard, you came out on your own to search for me. They didn’t bother. Did they?”

Again, it killed Roman to admit, he felt guilty for his parents, but he had to shake his head. “No... From what I heard, they tried for a day before giving up.” 

Remus almost laughed at that. His pretend father had spent so long making sure that he knew Remus’s every movement and his real parents spend a minuscule part of his life even attempting to see if he was alive. 

No. This wasn’t about them. Remus left on his own. He was the one who got the chance to do what he’d been wanting to do for twenty years and he wasn’t about to let people who didn’t even care about him ruin that. He did his best to ignore the thoughts and hugged Roman. “My brother... It’s nice to meet you. There’s something I wanted to do and I would love if you’d join me.” 

Roman nodded and hugged back. “Anything.” 

“Explore the kingdom with me tomorrow... Come with me to see the home I’d been missing all this time and, at night, we can watch the lanterns.” He pulled away and smiled at Roman. “I heard they were a celebration for your... For our birthday...” 

Roman nodded, though he didn’t return the smile. “They are... And I can’t. I would do anything in a heartbeat to be with you and get to know you, but I have to stay away from the kingdom, if you don’t want to go home with me. Once I get caught, I’ll be locked in the palace for sure and I’m almost certain that mother and father will do everything in their power to make sure I don’t get out again.” Not when he was reckless enough to leave a mere day before his twenty first birthday.

And... Fucking hell, Remus understood that. Of course he understood that, he swore to himself to stay away from his tower for the same reason, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. “So... I guess I can do all that alone,” he said with a disappointed laugh. “If it means getting to know you, I understand, but I can’t abandon these plans either, not after twenty years.” There was always next year, sure, but that was an entire year away. Remus wasn’t sure he could wait that long anymore, not when he was so close now. 

Rogue hesitated before stepping forward and putting a hand on Remus’s shoulder. “You won’t be alone. I know I’m not your brother, but I’m your friend and I’d be more than happy to still accompany you tomorrow.” 

Remus smiled and put a hand over his, turning to smile at him. “Thank you...” 

“And I’ll make sure Roman stays safe and sound until you see him again,” Fang promised, putting a hand on the prince’s waist. “And, I guess I don’t have to kill you, Rogue. Without your stupid betrayal, how would I have met Princey here? And I doubt Remus wants you dead.”

“I absolutely don’t, I like my thieves alive,” Remus said, putting his hand over Rogue’s. 

Rogue smiled just the slightest bit and looked over at his friend. “I know we don’t really take anybody there, but why don’t we meet at our usual place the morning after tomorrow? The sun’s going to go down soon, so perhaps we can set up camp here for now?” 

“Sounds like a plan. Why don’t we let these two catch up while we go get some firewood? Roman made sure to snag a good amount of food, we should be covered there.” 

Rogue nodded and headed out into the trees, Fang following close behind. 

Once they were out of sight, Roman looked around a bit and spotted an old fallen tree laying in the ground, pulling Remus to sit beside him. “So, we have twenty years to catch up on. Why don’t we get started?” 


End file.
